Lee Murray steps down as East Fife chairman

Scott Inglis

Lee Murray says the refusal of East Fife’s majority shareholders to share in his vision for the club’s future forced him to step down from his role as chairman.

Mr Murray only took over the role at the start of last season, but after only just a year at the helm has claimed that his position has been made untenable.

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Murray spoke of his regret at having to make the decision to leave the Bayview hot-seat.

He said: “When I joined the club just over a year ago, I was told I would be able to take the club forward in a direction which I thought was a vision shared by all of the shareholders and you, the supporters.

“Our ultimate ambition was to put East Fife at the heart of the community and achieve top flight football within 10 years.

“However, it became apparent that the majority shareholders did not share this same vision and we had been in negotiations for a number of months to resolve this issue.

“I had brought a team of individuals to the table who were willing to invest significant sums, time and energy into the club.

“However, the current owners were unwilling to sell their stake.

“When we proposed other solutions, the majority shareholders continually stalled on negotiations and refused to commit any funds to the club – a position which makes it almost impossible to bring in money from other sources which undermines our ability to take East Fife and the community

forward.

“In the last week, the majority shareholders have taken what I see as a step backwards.

“This has made our position untenable and we are absolutely devastated it has come to this.

“I very much appreciate the fantastic support the fans, directors and wider community have given me and I will never forget my time as chairman ‐ it has been truly life changing.

“I will always be an East Fife supporter and wish East Fife FC the very best of luck in the future.”